Confessions
by pieterroeland
Summary: Warhammer 40K Sisters of Battle: A Cannoness gives her last confession, recounting key events from early inexperience to faithful pillar. (A narrative based off story based campaigns played with a mate of mine.)
1. Chapter 1

**From the Ecclesiarchy Sealed Archives of Gwelyn's Stand. A controversial account of one of the Imperiums heroes, and Emperor's faithful.**

**This being the final confession of Cannoness Lyria Suvan. Dated this day of 230.991.M40. In the presence of his holiness, Arch-Confessor Konstanse Lightbrey and witnessed by this humble hand, Airn Rhey.**

_I hear you chose to omit the title many in our order have begun to cry out for me. That is well. I do not seek such extravagancies- nor am I worthy of such a thing. I am the Emperors servant, nothing more._

_In my years, I have served faithfully and am humbled the Emperor would shine his light on me to serve as long as I have. However, I feel it necessary to confess certain events of my life. Parts that, for various reasons, had been edited by history._

_You might recall some two-hundred years ago on Adjutant's Grace, I willingly took the Oath of the Penitent after a valiant but ultimate defeat in battle. That is true, however the events surrounding that defeat were...artistically edited._

_I was newly advanced to Superior at that time; my squad transferred to our Order of the Penitent Spirit's Mission there. It was two months after our transfer that Confessor Lightbrey discovered a festering wound of secular belief within a particular district. Forces of the Adeptus Arbites had gathered and violently squashed and apprehended the followers of this taint; however they had been overzealous in their duty- perhaps in attempt to show their fervour and save face in front of the Confessor for having not caught this obscenity earlier. Regardless, their actions along with the sects own violent response resulted in the destruction of one of our Emperor's temples._

_Lightbrey forbade the Arbites from re-entering the area, shaming the Judge for this that travesty. He took it upon himself to search for and retrieve the artefacts the temple had contained and set about re-consecrating the ground. Along with two priests and bodyguards, Sister Farrier along with her squad and my own were chosen to accompany his eminence in this sacred task._

_We arrived at the site around mid-morning; Sister Farrier and her squad had begun their search of the area while my squad readied in our transport to scout our quadrant. Sister Farrier's voice soon reported the discovery of an artefact. It did our hearts well to hear this good news; however it quickly turned sour as she voxed in only moments later with report of xeno sighting._

_I rushed forward of our transport and saw as we rounded one of the few intact buildings, Eldar craft. I had faced these xenos in my early days as an initiate and no encounter with them was ever pleasant. They were so horrendously alien. Fast, lethal and cowardly. Striking unexpectedly from all angles and vanishing just as quickly. For some reason, they were there now._

_Our transports moved to try to both protects the artefacts and engage the Eldar and the early moments of the battle was peppered with missile explosions around us and hits that did nothing more than deafen our ears as they detonated off the hull. Over the vox, I heard Sister Farrier order her squad out of their transport to secure one of the artefacts while her Rhino attempted to engage Eldar foot units in the rubble._

_We resorted to field hand signals for communication; the rest of my squad was not fortunate to have helmets such as I and despite the com-beads in their ears, could not hear verbals commands over the missiles glancing off our hull. That didn't stop their prayers though. Even as I ordered Sister Katran on the squads Meltagun to bring an end to the xenos vehicle harassing our position; she dutifully took aim through the fireport, the prayer of guidance on her lips, she struck true, but she might as well have spat at the vehicle as the melta shot seemed to reflect harmlessly off its targets hull. Sister Farrier reported similar occurrences in her own squad...I hesitated._

_The shot had been point blank, I had never even heard of such things happening, but somehow with some sick xenos trickery, the Eldar laughed at our weapons. Sister Farrier ordered a charge upon the vehicle on her position and I soon heard victorious cries in the background as the Eldar vehicle was destroyed._

_Bolstered with this fact that these aliens were not indestructible, I ordered Sister Farrier to have at them again, joining her this time, lobbing a Krak grenade- such is how close we were to the Emperor's enemies. Amidst the crack of sniper fire and explosions, our efforts were shrugged off as they were before. I felt a righteous fire of hatred rise within me at our foe, but it turned to ice as I heard Sister Farriers death scream and the screams of her squad. Again, I hesitated, heartbroken at the deaths of my fellow sisters. My hesitation cost us._

_Our transport rocked as sniper fire struck precisely, crunching the Rhino to a halt. I ordered my squad out of the death trap, straight into the sights of the waiting Eldar. We moved forward, prayers on our lips, defiant of our foe. I ordered a charge on the vehicle, inspired by Sister Farrier's valiance, but it jetted off before our grenades could strike a telling blow._

_Everything next happened so fast; one moment Sister Kendra was standing beside me, and the next she had been rendered to ash, the heat wave of the Eldar weapon that had done this blistering my skin even beneath my battle armour. The next moment, I saw Confessor Lightbrey and the Priests charge into the Eldar squad's flanks, proclaiming the Emperor's might and fighting with a fervour I had seen in few at that point. The alien fell quickly to their blades and Lightbrey moved to cover us from an approaching squad of masked warriors that came from the direction of Sister Farriers ill fated squad...it was a task that I should have fulfilled._

_He ordered us back, to recover the nearby artefact and get aboard his Rhino; but as I turned to look, I saw it crashed amongst rubble. More of my sisters fell beside me to sniper fire and when I went to look back at Lightbrey, he was already locked in a fierce combat with the Eldar, the men he had with him were cut down._

_Our forces decimated, my faith in both my abilities and the Emperor's will for my position wavering, my fears of past encounters plaguing me; the Confessor locked in what I saw to be a doomed fight...I fled. Oh I can justify by saying that our losses were too great, our martyrdom would have availed nothing that day; all true. But the truth of the matter is I fled._

_I returned and reported to the Prioress everything. Everything. My conscience assailing me, I wasted no time in offering myself for the Oath. The Prioress accepted- after a public flogging of course._

_In hindsight; it was the best thing that could have happened to me._

_Our Mission returned to the battlefield but found no trace of the alien. All but one of the artefacts were recovered and our Sisters were laid to rest. There was no sign of Confessor Lightbrey. Sister Farrier and her squad were noted for their courage and unwavering faith under fire. To this day, I hold her as one of the bravest and worthy of the Emperors servants I have ever met._


	2. Chapter 2

_The Repentia are known for many things. Their fervent search for absolution through suicidal violence. Their unwillingness to back down from the Emperor's foes so much so that the Mistress of Repentance is required to be present not so much to urge Repentia on- but rather to guide them, to steer their fervent desire for repentance into a direction useful in battle. One thing they are not known for is their longevity._

_When I took the Oath of the Penitent, I fully expected to die for the Emperor in a matter of months- if not less. I took up the Oath. The Cloth and the Eviscerator. A non-existent outcast from my sisters. I took up the fury of the Repentia; I lost myself in holy abandon in my search for atonement. But as the weeks turned into months and unbelievably the months turned into years and even those turned into a decade, I was denied the fulfilment of my Oath._

_I had sped across the molten plains of Octavia while blue-skinned xenos poured unreasonable amounts of firepower upon us. And survived._

_I had fought traitor marines, giants with blood soaked armour while Imperial fleets bombarded the planet with lance strikes. And survived._

_Even the devastating destruction of a Baneblade did not falter the steps of myself or several Repentia._

_At the time I thought I was cursed, my sin so great as that I would even be denied death to atone for it. Looking back now, I see only the Emperor's hand working unfathomably._

_There was a battle upon Adjutants Grace. No, a massacre, really. You won't find records of it as they have been stricken; but I remember it._

_It had been a foul year, that one. Warp storms were giving ships trouble in their navigations to Adjutant's Grace, resources had been cut and severe rationing had been enforced as the planet still needed to meet the Imperial tithe, regardless of conditions. Communiqué via Astro-telepath was sporadic and I hear that some messages sent from the planet are even now only reaching their intended destinations._

_I learned all this of course after the massacre- I will call it nothing else. Repentia do not require mission briefings; only to be pointed in the direction of the foe. From what I've managed to glean since then is that Prioress Ullen had taken it upon her fiery self to personally see to a reported desecration of a minor shrine in an out-skirting city that had been much neglected. Back in it's heyday, the shrine of Saint Kallix had been a common pilgrimage site. It marked the place where the archenemy had suffered a great defeat and the ground sanctified and the shrine built upon the ground to forever hold the enemy at bay. Such stories passed into legend and were mostly forgotten through time. As I said, Repentia do not require a brief, only a direction. I learned this after the massacre._

_It had taken several days to reach the shrine; Mistress Inderwal never let up on her whips, she had an unerring aim and a tireless arm. Needless to say by the time we reached the site, the Repentia had been whipped into a frenzy. When Mistress Inderwal did not whip us, we took it upon ourselves to cut ourselves with sharp stones we found, crying scripture as we went. I did not notice the battle sisters with us, but I know they would have regarded us with both admiration and unease- I had done so myself, before the Oath._

_Our convoy paused at the square before the shrine. As was her custom, Prioress Ullen would have surveyed the surroundings. Some called it a wreckless habit that constantly put her in danger unnecessarily but she had said that it was better for a potential battlefield to be viewed by faithful eyes._

_We did nothing for some time at this time. The air was still and the only sounds were the rumbling of the Rhinos and the wailing of my fellow Repentia._

_Then came the report of heavy weapons._

_Even over the engines and shots and wailing, I heard the familiar wet, sucking explosion of a man being turned inside out. That same instant brought the bellow of Prioress Ullen ordering an advance._

_Mistress Inderwal's whip came down on my back and we ran forward with abandon._

_We rounded the building we had been behind and I caught my first glimpse of the shrine. Desecrated would have been a mild word. The place was in ruins, scripture scratched out and blasphemous words etched into golden stone statues. We passed one of the shrine guards, wounded on the ground, her body shielding a relic she had obviously saved. No one paid any heed to her, I assume Prioress Ullen had ordered everyone forward to engage the foe as no Rhinos stopped either. And such a foe._

_They were gray clad monsters. From atop a building, two machines that reminded me of fearsome Penitent Engines rained fire upon Prioress Ullen and the Rhinos. The Prioress' tradition cost her her life as in moments her body was rent apart by the heavy weapons of those machines. I have head autocannon fire before and knew these weapons for what they were, but never had I ever seen them strike with such deadly power. _

_As we advanced it was only moments before both Rhinos were wrecked and sisters were picking themselves from the twisted metal amongst the unending hail of fire. One squad advanced towards a grey Rhino, firing as they went, stripping the treads from the vehicle and losing several sisters to the damnable fire from the vehicles atop the building for their efforts._

_Mistress Inderwal tried to steer us to the building no doubt to give our sisters reprieve and a chance from the guns; but she halted our charge and instead whipped us to grey power-armoured giants deploying from the wrecked Rhino. Some later tried to fault her for her decision, but they weren't there. Even caught in the heat of battle, we could almost taste the stench of psykers. Not just one. But many. Every one of those marines that begun to tear our sisters apart was an unholy psyker. One in particular stood out; a towering giant with a skilled hand at wielding a blade I had never seen before._

_Under a fusillade of bolt shot and flame in support from the only remaining squad of sisters behind us, we charged that warp tainted monster. Many of the shots struck true and the brutes squad was diminished._

_Up close, he was a mockery. His powered armour held Imperial markings but this only sickened us and stoked holy rage within us. What servant of the Emperor would dare strike his most faithful?! Indignant of this, Mistress Inderwal challenged him._

_Never have I seen such skill with a blade. It was less than a heartbeat and I saw our mistress fall apart in three neatly cut pieces. The brute then engaged us; unleashing a flurry of blows upon us, cutting down several Repentia in the time it took us to bring our unwieldy weapons to bear. The melee raged on until only I remained. Only I remained. The report of gunfire had ceased and I realised later that there were none of my sisters left._

_I spat. I actually spat at this vile champion. Screaming curses and prayers and vows and all manner of declarations upon this enemy of the Emperor. I landed my share of blows, many were dodged or playfully knocked aside; it was when my blows landed that the giants play seemed to end. The eviscerator was heavy in my hands, cutting through air and powered armour but not seeming to land a lethal blow and when I though I had managed to evade a glancing strike and score a decapitating stroke, some force betrayed my weapon and let this giant live._

_Our fight raged longer than the firefight; Fuelled by a righteous desire to see this heretic slain in the Emperors name pushed me onwards into feats of strength I did not know exist. More importantly as I see now. Faith._

_I overextended myself in a wild lunge and the giant latched onto my arms- they looked like twigs in his grasp. The pommel of his weapon smashed against my face, knocking me senseless and he lifted me overhead, the bones in my arms snapped but it was nothing but a dull roar mixed in with the pain the rest of my body felt. I swear by the Emperor what happened next is true. I felt the crackling sword of the champion rip into my gut, I felt it tear up my chest and up out of my neck...The champion cocked his head to one side and what was to be a finishing stroke harmlessly passed through me. I kicked out, catching my dangling weapon and driving it into his chest plate. The massive blade stuck and chewed through his armour. I was instinctively dropped and I saw the champion stumble backwards, grasping at the weapon as it bore deeper. Unfortunately, that force which had protected him so many times before did so again and stopped the sizeable weapon from burrowing further._

_My body was spent, exhausted from the trek here and the fearsome battle; my body failed my will and I collapsed as if dead. The last thing I saw before blackness took me was the grey giant tearing the massive chain blade from his chest._

_I awoke in a bed to the sight of a sister hospitaller. I do not remember much of those first few weeks. Apparently, when Prioress Ullen had failed to report, a scout had been sent to investigate. There was no sign of our armoured enemy and only the birds were there to pick the flesh from our sisters. Only two were recovered from that massacre. Myself, and the shrine guard who had miraculously survived._

_When my strength had recovered, I was required to brief Mistress Anse on the events._

_Sister Milla- the shrine survivor gave account. She had been at her post at the shrine when it was besieged by crazed men with las-weaponry. It was no disorganised attack by some sleepers of the archenemy; they had come in great numbers, overwhelming the shrine guardians by sheer mass of bodies and fearsome brutality._

_The shrine had been overwhelmed in minutes and she managed to desperately collect one of the holy relics to protect it from their vile intentions._

_This news was shocking as it meant a considerable heretical cell had been established under the nose of the Ecclesiarchy._

_Between the organising of investigations and mobilising of battle sisters, a significant event took place very quietly._

_I was summoned to the main church. There, I was surrounded by battle sisters and faced with our new Prioress, Helena Katran and representatives of the Ecclesiarchy. Amidst wafting incense, humming servo-skulls bearing devotional messages; I was welcomed back to my sisters with open arms. The battle armour that had been stripped from me was reverently placed back upon my, fitting like a glove as if nothing had ever happened._

_I wept-fully asked Prioress Katran why my oath had been fulfilled, I had seen nothing but failure. But Prioress Katran saw differently. Throughout the years, I had apparently been the subject of many miraculous occurrences, witnessed by pict-recorder and Mistress alike. The main reason was because Prioress had received a vision. From Saint Kallix herself._

_I was to play a role in the Emperors plans against the archenemy on this planet._


End file.
